Clinton Tabs Privacy Point Man

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Clinton Tabs Privacy Point Man

The White House has chosen a law professor to coordinate the Clinton administration's position on privacy, which has become an increasingly important issue in Washington.

The administration is expected to announce the appointment of Peter Swire, an Ohio State University professor of law and prolific author on privacy, in the next few days.

"I'll be on half-time status until May 1. After that I'll be in government full-time," Swire said in an interview with Wired News.

Swire will arrive in Washington at a time when the debate over the extent of government regulation is peaking, and consumers are more nervous than ever about how their personal information is protected online.

Last month, congressional intervention and the threat of a boycott from privacy groups prompted Intel to disable a controversial ID feature in its processor.

Swire has been one of the most prominent authors on the tension between privacy self-regulation and government regulation of businesses. He sees a need for both. "Markets, self-regulation, and government inevitably also have their own limitations in the protection of privacy," he writes in one article.

Swire will report to the director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. OMB, which is part of the White House bureaucracy, oversees and influences agency rules and policies.

With co-author Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution, Swire wrote a book, None of Your Business, denouncing the effects of the European Data Directive. The regulation, which aims to give consumers control over their personal information, will slam the brakes on American firms' ability to exchange data with overseas partners and subsidiaries.

At a luncheon in October, Swire predicted it could lead to a trade war. The Clinton administration has criticized the measure.